


There Are No Maps

by Abyssinia



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-23
Updated: 2007-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-02 23:36:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abyssinia/pseuds/Abyssinia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"Elizabeth did not find it easy either." The words startled her and Sam turned to find Teyla standing in the doorway. "May I join you?"</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	There Are No Maps

The balconies were definitely one of the perks of being on Atlantis. Back at SGC, if Sam wanted to take a break from work and get some fresh air it took three security check points and at least two elevator trips to get her to a dusty parking lot. But here she never seemed to be far from a balcony which offered the tang of salt-air, the soft slapping of waves, and enough moons in the sky to remind her she wasn't on Earth. They were also good places to think, away from the constant ebb and flow of the city.

Plus if she found herself talking out loud to Daniel or Teal'c or Cameron or Vala or General O'Neill because the decisions felt too big in her own brain, there was nobody there to look at her funny.

"Elizabeth did not find it easy either." The words startled her and Sam turned to find Teyla standing in the doorway. "May I join you?"

Teyla waited for Sam's nod before coming over to the rail. "This city is beautiful," Sam told her. "Before I never had time to really see it."

"It is," Teyla agreed. "But that is not why you standing here in the middle of the night."

"No," Sam admitted, looking down at her hands, fingers entwined together. "It's more different than I thought it would be. I've made big decisions before -- had the lives of everyone on my planet depend on me being right. But, well, most of them didn't know it and I always had my team there to back me up."

"Making decisions on which many lives rest is a heavy burden. Trust yourself and trust the people in this city and they will learn to trust you," Teyla told her. "You would not be here if you were not up to the challenge."

Sam laughed. "That's what people keep telling me."

"A leader's job is never easy. Elizabeth also spent many sleepless nights watching the ocean, but answers don't come from out there," Teyla said, waving her hand toward the horizon. "They come from inside. We just have to find them."

"Got any good maps?"

"No. But I do have tea and I miss sharing a late drink with Elizabeth. Come, share a mug with me and don't think for a while. Let the answers come to you."

"General O'Neill would tell you it's a lost cause trying to make me stop thinking," Sam sighed, turning around and pressing her back into the railing. "I can't be Elizabeth."

"No, you cannot," Teyla agreed. "But she would not want us to let that stop us from our lives. If we are to honor her we must do our best by this city and the people who live in it."

"The first time I met Elizabeth she was replacing the commanding officer of the Stargate program. I'd served under General Hammond for years and in two days I was losing my team and had a new person making decisions on a program she knew nothing about," Sam told her. "We were not easy on her. Now I think I might understand how she must have felt."

"She has only spoken highly of you," Teyla said. "And of your kind heart and dedication to the people you serve with. I do not believe you will prove her wrong."

Sam sighed and looked up at the stars, twinkling between the spires of the city. "Tea you say?"

"Yes."

"That sounds lovely. Thank you, Teyla."


End file.
